


Winged

by SolNiveAngelo (Mogadorian_Wolf)



Series: Shifters, Hybrids and Winged [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alabaster has a crush on Luke, Ethan has a crush on Percy, F/F, F/M, M/M, Prophecies, Werewolf Jason, Wings, abusive Kronos, cat-shifter Percy, healer! Alabaster, shape-shifter au, werewolf Hazel, werewolf Reyna, werewolf frank
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogadorian_Wolf/pseuds/SolNiveAngelo
Summary: The Shifters have always been up against the Hybrids and Winged. People meet and fall in love between the groups as a hidden prophecy hangs over them with impending doom. Ethan's in a relationship with Alabaster who has a crush on Luke. Luke is trying to find who the prophecy involves for his abusive boyfriend Kronos. Leo's trying to save him. Percy's going back to his friends, even though it means going through Hybrid territory, and Jason's going after him. Annabeth isn't giving up on breaking out herself. Piper is dealing with being born a Winged where everyone else is made. Reyna wants to put her pack back together, and Thalia's just reconnecting her unfinished past with her current life as a Winged. And Lou Ellen and Cecil are unraveling the prophecy.





	1. Prologue Part I: Ethan

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so a long time ago I was asked to make a sequel to Kitten Wolf, and I swear I started almost right away... with Ethan, because I thought that was interesting to pursue. So almost a year later, I've decided to put up part of what I have. Originally, I was going to have three perspective per chapter, but... I'm just going to mark them as parts, and I'll try and post the next one next Thursday.  
> Also if there's any tags you think I should add, please let me know.

Ethan sat on the edge of the winged palace that was suspended in midair, looking out at the world below. How long had it been since the winged had taken him and made him their own? Sure, he could go back, but they wouldn’t accept him like this. They thought of the winged as monsters, as fundamentally changed from the shifters that ran the world below. It hurt to think about it like that, but it was true. He’d seen it with his own eyes, felt it when he first tried to go back down. Luke had pulled him back to the palace before the shifters could kill him. But Percy hadn’t been among them, hadn’t been there.

                He took a deep shaky breath and closed his eyes. Percy showed up as clear as day with his ocean eyes and dark casual hair. Ethan could even see his panther form, and in a flash he could see the moment Percy saved him, slinking toward him in his shifted form. He’d been so done with everything that he’d been more than tempted to walk into Hybrid territory and let Fate be done with it. Only Percy had stopped him, had saved him and given him a reason to keep fighting on. He strongly suspected the other boy didn’t know just what he had done for Ethan. It seemed a just irony that Ethan would end up with the winged by saving Percy.

                Living here was his reality, now. It wasn’t awful. In fact, it was probably the place he felt most at home- not that he would ever tell anyone, especially not Luke, who was their leader. If Luke found out, he’d never let it go and would start throwing an arm around his shoulder. Ethan didn’t want to deal with Luke hanging out, with him-

                “There’s a new winged you need to see,” Luke announced behind Ethan, interrupting his train of thought. Ethan’s eyes flew up, and he jolted around to see the older boy standing awkwardly with another bruise decorating his left cheekbone that emphasized the scar on his face. Normally the bruises weren’t so prominent. The only reason Ethan even knew about them was because his boyfriend, Alabaster, was the one who ended up patching up the winged leader. His boyfriend, who was crushing on Luke, was responsible for using his magic to heal Luke from his abusive boyfriend. It should annoy Ethan more, but he couldn’t work up to that level of annoyment. He was still hung up on Percy after all.

                “You need to see Alabaster. That bruise looks pretty bad,” Ethan told Luke, keeping his voice calm. He didn’t even want to know how bad the other boy looked under his clothes. Alabaster had him there for a couple patch ups, and Ethan had had to resist the urge to go hunt down the bastard who did that and break a couple of _his_ bones.

                Luke winced, touching his cheek like he just remembered it. Ethan hid the kernel of anger for the man who was abusing their leader under a layer of a numbness. It was always easier when Alabaster wasn’t around with his magic.

                “He was just really bad this week,” Luke replied vaguely, shifting his weight as his gaze dropped from Ethan’s. Some days it was hard to remember that Luke was the boss of the winged when he seemed so much more vulnerable than them.

                Ethan blinked as he realized that at some point he’d gotten to his feet and stood in front of Luke. He didn’t miss the way Luke flinched when Ethan gently touched the spot. Ethan snorted, a hot burst of hate burning in his chest. “He’s really bad every week. You need to stop going back.”

                “I love him,” Luke whispered, and Ethan could hear the tears in his voice. There was no doubt that his boyfriend had no real love for him after everything Ethan had heard; he just used Luke to further his own ambitions.

                “Al loves you,” Ethan whispered as some sort of comfort as something to bring him back.

                Luke’s eyes snapped up to him, narrowing in suspicion. They swept over Ethan as if trying to figure out where he needed to step next, what Ethan already knew. Ethan just sighed and shook his head as he pushed back down the bubble of anger. It wasn’t worth it; he just hadn’t wanted Ethan to know. For all Ethan knew, he’d done it for the same reason Ethan had told him.

                “Why’d he come to me, Luke? He didn’t choose me.” It was a chance that might not pan out, that maybe it wasn’t true, but Ethan knew it was from the way Luke shifted guiltily and changed the subject abruptly. “We should go see the new winged.”

                As he turned to go, all the layers of numbness Ethan’d been burying the anger away evaporated. “You’re just going to walk away like that? I deserve an answer, Luke! You were the one that tore me away from my life, from Percy.” Ethan felt the heat of embarrassment as he whispered the last part. Tears were pricking at his eyes, and hastily whipped them away.

                Luke froze but didn’t turn around, didn’t let Ethan see his face. He let the echoes hang in the air long enough that Ethan wondered if he’d ever get the truth, and then Luke calmly replied, “You needed someone, Ethan. We thought we’d lose you. And I was aiming for Percy.”

                Ethan rolled his eyes as Luke ducked back inside the palace that housed all of the wings; they weren’t welcome anywhere else. He hurried after the blonde intent on not letting this conversation go. “So you used his crush on you against him? And why Percy?” He’d asked the last question so many times that he knew he wouldn’t get an answer.

                “I gave him something to distract him from it,” Luke hissed back like ice starting to crack in the spring. He sped up his pace so that Ethan had to scurry after him. He knew it was just another tactic to avoid Ethan responding to it. It hurt to think that Ethan was just supposed to be a distraction to Alabaster, but maybe Luke thought it cut both ways. After all, Ethan hadn’t made it any secret that he still had a crush on Percy.

                Luke slid into the side door of an infirmary where the few healers that had worked. On the white sheeted bed laid an unconscious winged that Ethan hadn’t seen before. He could be recovering from the surgery that gave him wings if he chose it like some Hybrids did… or Alabaster who had been a rare non-shifter before the surgery… or he could be recovering from being changed by another winged. Luke would be the best nomination for that.

                The new winged was small and scrawny with black marks smeared on his skin that looked like grease. His hair was wild and curly, and his ears looked slightly pointed. He looked like a fox or a coyote shifter from a place that was normally outside of their range.

                “Where’d you find him?”

                Luke looked at him with a soft smile. “That’s the weird thing. He was outside the cove- the one people say lead to the underworld. He was looking for something or somebody. I don’t know if he was a shifter, but he held a fire in his hands, an orange flame. He could be what we’re looking for Ethan. He-”

                A soft whoosh cut him off, and they turned to see Alabaster landing in the room, folding his wings back with a grin. “I just got through stalking your crush for a while. Apparently he’s joined a pack of wolf shifters, and I think he’s screwing the alpha- or the alpha’s screwing him.”

                Luke turned the wrong way, and Alabaster got a full look at his face. Ethan could tell by the panicked look on Luke’s face that he hadn’t meant to do that. Alabaster screwed his lips together in disapproval before in a deadly soft voice declaring, “I’m going to kill him. Back me up on this, Ethan.”

                “I’ve stated that before, but you always remind me that he won’t actually tell us who it is,” Ethan shot back, and Luke blushed bright red. A spark of satisfaction surged through Ethan as he turned back to Alabaster. “In the meantime do you wanna see the new winged Luke brought home?”


	2. Prologue: Part 2: Percy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy's back and struggling with how he hasn't gone back for his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just lost the document I had all of this in. Luckily I had some of the basics written in a notebook and had part already posted. I'm a little sad about the loss of the third part of the prologue because I was pretty happy with it.  
> I'm not entirely satisfied with this section; I hadn't been with the original draft either. So any suggestions you have to improve it would be greatly appreciated.  
> Edited: Special thanks to Colts12broncos18 for giving me feedback on how to redo this chapter. I mostly added to the beginning with a few changes to the original part to keep it consistent. I'm going to try to post the third part of the prologue on Thursday.

    Hazel and Frank were curled around each other next to Percy. They had a child-like relationship that mostly involved holding hands and staying by each other. Percy liked that about them. Sometimes he wished he still had that innocence, the peaceful sleep that swept over them.

    He sighed and rolled over, automatically looking for Reyna. The female wolf-shifter had it out for him since Jason had brought him back to his pack. The younger wolf-shifters took to him immediately, but Reyna seemed to see him as a threat.

    “Don’t worry. She’s asleep.”

    Percy sat up as Jason weaved his way through the sleepy bodies. “Wanna go for a run?”

    Percy looked away, pulling his knees up until Jason took a seat beside him. He looked at the blonde wolf-shifter out of the corner of his eye. “When are you going to tell them about us instead of letting them think you just brought home a stray?”

    “When I don’t think Reyna will instantly try to kill you,” Jason instantly answered. Percy gave him a look, and the wolf-shifter looked sheepish. “I don’t know. When it’s the right time, I guess.”

    “It’s been three months.”

    They sat there for a moment, before Jason shifted and finally broke the silence. “Do you want to go out?”

    Percy pushed to his feet. “To the lake.”

    They shifted outside the cave, and Percy took the lead with Jason at his heels. The change wiped all the worry and hurt away as the chase filled his veins. Jason pounced him halfway to their tree. Percy fought back, rolling on top of him. He wanted to stay there for a moment, but he wanted to be the first to their tree.

    He bounded off the alpha wolf, racing further off. Jason took a couple more moments before his footsteps are pounding behind Percy. With just the two of them, it was easier to forget about the rest of the worries.

    At the tree, Percy changed back, basking under the almost full moon. Jason pounced behind him, also changed back. Percy laughed as he jolted forward. They tussled a bit until Jason was pinning him to the ground, hovering over him with that predatory light.

    “Tell me, do cats admire the moon as much as we do,” Jason breathed.

    Percy smirked. “I don’t see any of your wolves out here.”

    Jason gave him a pointed look, and Percy’s grin grew as he traveled his hand lightly down the blonde’s chest. “We hunt at night. The stars and moon are our light.”

    He frowned. “But we met in the morning under the sun.”

    “I was asleep,” Percy reminded him.

    They slowly fell into a kiss, gentle, sweet and moving like waves. It spread through Percy’s body, and his legs fell open. He needed the gentleness, and Jason seemed to feel it too. This couldn’t last forever, but he really wanted it to.

    _Annabeth looked so dirty tied to a post with Grover next to her. She lifted her tear-streaked to watch the Hybrids parade by. Streamers floated behind them._

_“Why’s Percy’s taking so long?” Grover whispered._

_Annabeth’s mouth tightened, and her eyes hardened, “He’s not coming, Graver. That’s what they want us to see. Might as well join them.”_

_“No! I’m right here, Annabeth!” Percy cried, pounding his fists on what felt like glass. How was that get there? Wasn’t he already a ghost?_

_Warm arms embraced him from behind, and a familiar warm voice whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry about them, Perce. You’ve got me, now; you don’t need them anymore.”_

    Percy jolted awake. He’d been having a similar nightmare for the past couple weeks. In some of them Grover and Annabeth were being pulled apart, screaming for him. It had been one of the nights they’d stayed in the cave, and Hazel had been the one to comfort him. It’d been weird to have the younger girl seem so much older and knowledge in that area.

He shook the memory away and slowly tipped his head back to look up at Jason. The blonde was still sleeping, half curled around Percy. Percy let his hand trail over Jason’s chest. Why did he feel like he had to choose between his new love and his friends? They’d been good the first couple months, just running through the woods chasing each other and kissing. He’d only occasionally stare off over the lake like he could see Annabeth and Grover run out of the woods toward him. The most he’d worry about was Reyna’s dislike of him.

He sighed before reluctantly pulling away and getting to his feet. Jason curled on himself in his absent, but Percy was pretty familiar with the blonde’s sleeping habits by now. He tugged on his shorts and jeans. With one more glance back at his… lover? Boyfriend? They still hadn’t put a name on what they had. He moved over to the lake he’d first crossed that had brought him to Jason. Staring at it seemed to be becoming more of a habit to him lately. The woods beyond seemed to be calling to him.

           It looked exactly like it had when Percy had crossed it, running away from the Hybrids that had taken his friends He could still hear them screaming. Jason had told him that they’d been changed that there was no saving them. Percy believed him, but… if they were Hybrids was the person you were, gone? What if they were waiting for him? Sitting in the rain, crying that he’d forgot them? Even as Hybrids. He didn’t want to be that kind of person.

               He shook his head. If he started thinking like that, he’d start wondering if Ethan was okay, if he was wondering where Percy was. Then again, Ethan had been on the verge of going into Hybrid territory when they first met. Maybe he was happy now, if he was still alive. He’s always seemed distant the little Percy had been around him.

               Warm arms wrapped around his chest as a bare chest pressed against his bare back. Percy didn’t need to look behind him to know Jason was wrapping around him. His chin rested on Percy’s shoulder.

               “What are you thinking about?” He asked softly, nuzzling Percy’s neck.

               Percy jerked away. “Did you ever talk to her? Your sister?”

               Jason frowned at him, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What do you mean? She was one of them, Percy. There’s never been a good Hybrid. They capture shifters and change them.”

               “That doesn’t mean she’s not still your sister!” Percy cried, feeling tears prick at his eyes. “And you left her! I left them.”

               Jason took a step him with a hand stretched out. Percy stepped away from him, hardening himself. He’d known this couldn’t last; he’d just been fooling himself. “We’ve never reached out to Hyrbrids, even the ones we knew. What if they don’t become evil, but they just think we’ve abandoned them? I can’t keep doing this, Jason! I can’t forget them and leave them!”

               He turned and walked off around the lake toward his original territory. Jason grabbed his arm. “Percy! You can’t just go marching out into the woods like that! I don’t want you to get hurt.”

               “I’ll be fine. I’m a cat-shifter, remember? We’re meant to be alone as Reyna keeps telling you,” Percy snapped. It would be better to make Jason hate him before he left. And Percy left him.

He’d come back to the wolf-shifter, he was sure, but he had to go back and find Annabeth and Grover. He had to know if there was a way there were still the same friends he knew. It was only when he was rounding the edge that he finally looked over his shoulder to see Jason staring after him. His heart twisted at the sight. He wanted to go back, stay with the pack Jason was the alpha.

               He forced himself to continue on. Jason didn’t follow him. He ignored the way his chest hurt at the realization. Jason had a pack to take care of, and Percy had to see if he could still save his friends. He’d come back if only to apologize.


	3. Prologue Part 3: Lou Ellen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lou Ellen is still looking for her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final part of the prologue! I loved writing this, even though I miss the first version I had. I may come back and revise this later.  
> I got my copy of the anthology my short story, "Not Your Hero," was published in a couple days ago

It was a stray root that finally sent Lou Ellen to the ground. Even through her jeans, she could feel the wet mud squishing under her, felt it between her fingers. Tears made their way down her cheeks. Cecil flopped down beside her, uncaring about the mud. Both of their clothes were already thoroughly damp from the constant misting rain, and Cecil had slipped and skidded in the mud long before she had.

“We’ll find him,” he said, putting a gentle hand on her back. 

“It’s been over a year,” she bit out. She could still feel Alabaster embracing her and dropping a kiss on her forehead as he promised to come back.

Cecil sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Yeah. And you’ve spent the past eight months training under first Circe, then Hecate. You saved me from being a guinea pig, even though it meant sacrificing your apprenticeship under Circe. I watched you command a pirate ship with a firearm and a couple other runaway apprentices-”

“Circe was a good witch even though she’s a terrible person,” Lou Ellen cut in.

Cecil laughed. “Yeah, I suppose. You do have your pig bombs thanks to her. Pretty handy with bandits.”

She smiled and leaned back on her knees as she remembered the unfortunate bandits that had decided a couple of non-shifters made a good target. They didn’t look like they even knew what to do with being a pig. The misting rain made tiny rivers down her face. Rescuing Cecil was probably the best decision she made through this whole journey. He might not be a shifter like everyone else, but he had his own unique gifts. 

“I’m just saying that You’re gaining experience, Lou. When we found him, you can help him get Calypso back. He won’t be alone. And you’ve always got me.” He slipped his hand into hers, and she let him with a small smile.

She turned to look at him. “I shouldn’t have let him go.”

“He’s your older brother. You didn’t know he would be gone this long. And it’s not your job to-”

“To What? Watch over him? Know that he was hurting, vulnerable, because of what happened to his girlfriend? I’m his sister, Cecil. Siblings are supposed to look out for each other. Especially when you don’t have parents around to do that for you.”

Cecil looked at her quietly until she had to look away from the intensity of his gaze. She still didn’t know what his life was like before he’d been cursed by Circe. A moment later, his hand slipped into hers and he quietly said, “From what I’ve heard, your brother was almost as accomplished at magic as the women you’ve trained under. You couldn’t have stopped him; you didn’t even let him go. He was gone by the time you woke up. And unless you’ve been keeping part of your power a secret from me, you couldn’t have seen what would happen. Please, don’t keep blaming yourself for his choices.”

He wrapped his free arm around her, and she leaned back against him, soaking in the comfort. Where would she be without the boy beside her? She could cast spells and stand her ground, but Cecil was the one that talked their way past the troll and showed her a flower he’d plucked from a lone witch’s garden for her. Of course, they’d had to run from the witch after that, but Cecil brought life to her mission. He tried to cheer up when she was losing her way in hopelessness and doubt.

After a moment, Lou Ellen got back to her feet, keeping ahold of Cecil’s hand. He looked up at her with a pout. “Break time over already?”

Her lips twitched in a suppressed smile. “We’ve got a mission, Cecil. We’ve got to keep going.”

“Whatever you say princess.”

“Does that mean you’re my knight in shining armor?” She grinned at him, pulling him up.

He made a face. “Hey now. You can do both those roles.”

She laughed. They meandered along as dark started to fall. Lou Ellen lifted her hand and muttered the spell for a ball of light. Cecil squeezed her hand, and a magical warmth moved from him through her, taking up the mild cold patch left in the wake of using magic. She gave him an amused look. He didn’t look at her, but his neck and ears were flushed. It’d been like that since she broke him out. He said it wasn’t much, but he could boost her magic. She thought, he probably did it more to make himself feel useful than that he thought she needed it.

A shadow snapped her attention back to the path they were traveling, and she saw the cave Hecate had told her about. It loomed in front of them, so much bigger than Lou Ellen thought it would be. Cecil shrunk into her side with a shudder. Cool air wooshed out of the cave like a breath of death. She shivered and looked at Cecil who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Hecate had warned them that the cave goes all the way to the Underworld, maybe even Tartarus, but it could help her in searching for her brother. She wondered if Cecil was more sensitive to the cave’s presence or if he was just a little less keen on them getting anywhere near death.

She took a deep breath, shaking off the thoughts, and moved into the cave. Cecil dragged behind her, but he didn’t say anything. Just inside the cave were intricate painting….

Lou Ellen sucked in a breath at the realization, and Cecil squeezed her hand with that warm magic of his again. “I don’t mean to insult your mother, but Hecate has a higher capacity for chaos then even I do.”

Lou Ellen swallowed thickly. “Tell me about it.”


	4. Original Prologue Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found the original document! I've decided to post the original drafts that had gotten lost. Let me know what you think. Which do you prefer?

Percy stared at the lake he’d crossed before Jason had taken him into his pack. His friends were probably still waiting for him to rescue them, no matter what Jason said about the Hybrids turning everyone they caught. He’d seen his sister afterward but had he really talked to her. What if they were still there inside, devastated that Percy never came back like he’d promised? He could feel his heart trying to escape at that thought, the same one that circled his nightmares.

_Annabeth screamed. Her eyes were wide and reaching out toward him as her body contorted into something inhuman- a hybrid. He stepped back, shaking his head. The betrayal was written on her face. “How could you, Percy? I thought you were my friend. Why would you abandon me like this- abandon us?”_

_And then Grover was there just as tormented, and Ethan was with them, torn apart for helping him. That’s all anyone ever got for helping him. He could hear their whispered voices meshing together, accusing him. Even the wolf shifters were there, accusing and suspicious. And why wouldn’t they? He’d left his pack behind to the mercy of the hybrids, and swept their alpha off his feet._

He was startled by warm arms wrapping around his waist. A bare chest pressed against his back as Jason rested his head on Percy’s shoulder. For one reason or another, the alpha wolf-shifter preferred mating with Percy away from his den and his pack. He tried not to let it bother him.

“Hey,” Jason said with a gruff sleepy voice. “You got up early. Something bothering you?”

Percy tensed, but took a deep breath and forced himself to relax again. “Do you ever think about how you left your sister? What’s happened to her? Maybe they still need our help, and they think we just abandoned them, and-“ he cut himself off before he rambled on too much.

Jason straightened and tried to peer in to Percy’s face. “Percy? What are you going on back?”

He jerked away from Jason with a flood of equal anger and panic. “I left them! Gods, Jase. It’s been three months, and I haven’t even _tried_ to find them! They got captured because of me, and I’m here, pretending it didn’t happen, living it up big with an alpha of a _wolf_ pack! And you can say what you want about not being able to help them, but that _still_ makes me a terrible person.”

Jason reached out toward him, but Percy made sure to keep his distance.

“Don’t. I’m going to find my friends like I should’ve a long time ago.” And he ran, his heart pounding and the world blurring around him. He was such an idiot.

He could barely hear Jason calling after him. But what were they really to each other?


	5. Original Prologue: Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was unfinished, but I tidied the ending up.

                Lou Ellen tripped over a root. She fell on her hands, knees pressing into the mud, and though the heavy rain had since dissipated into light misting, her clothes were still heavy and damp. In that moment, her thin control broke. She let out a broken sob, and then Cecil was there, resting a gentle hand between her shoulders.

                “Hey Lou. We’re going to find him, you know? We’re going to find him, and he’s going to be okay, and everything will turn out just fine. You’ll see,” Cecil told her, taking a seat beside her as he started gently rubbing between her shoulders.

                She had the brief thought that he was going to get dirty, and then she leaned back on her knees and kissed him. He kissed back, just as seriously, bringing up a hand to the back of her head. And just like that Lou Ellen relaxed, clutching Cecil’s shirt. He wrapped an arm around Lou Ellen’s waist.

                After a moment, he pulled away with a little smile. “You’ll always have me, Lou.”

                She nodded, rubbing her eyes against the back of her hand. Her throat was clogged, and she just wanted to curl into Cecil’s arms for the rest of the night, but they couldn’t sleep in the middle of the forest without shelter. She pushed herself back to feet, her voice coming back. “Come on. Maybe we can find a cave or something nearby.”

                Cecil smiled up at her. “I could build a shelter, if we can’t find one.”

                She snorted, knowing he would really just pull out some twine and tie branches together for a roof, but she still had to bite back her smile. He tilted his head at her with a knowing smirk. She rolled her eyes and offered him her hand. He took it, and she pulled him up, keeping a hold of his hand. Magic swarmed through her stronger than before. Cecil was probably boosting her magic. He had a habit of doing that after she broke. She thought it was to make up for the fact that he didn’t have any special magic like everyone else. It made him feel helpful.

                A ball of light left her free hand, floating in front of them. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was going to do without having used a specific spell, and the tendency for the boosted magic to take Cecil’s intentions/desire into account. Cecil squeezed her hand as the ball started bobbing away from them. They followed it without hesitation. It weaved through the trees to a dark cave before vanishing. A cool breeze came out of the cave, and a bad feeling crept over Lou Ellen.

                “Well it took us to cave,” Cecil offered with a shrug and a nervous smile.

                “I don’t think we should go in. There’s something down there,” Lou Ellen said, tugging  Cecil a step back from the cave. She remembered Bianca disappearing down a similar tunnel looking for her brother, and she hadn’t been seen since.

                Cecil tilted his head toward her with a curious look. “Let‘s just take a look around.”


	6. Chapter 1: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna pov- Jason comes back without his kitten wolf, and Reyna thinks the lack of a cat-shifter might be a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had fun, rewriting the ending. It changed a lot.

  It was quiet when Reyna woke up and a young wolf-shifter seemed to be curled around her arm. She groaned, checking to see if it was possible that Jason was still her. He was gone with his little cat-shifter, like he was almost every morning. She was used to being in charge in the mornings, to waking up the three young wolf-shifters they’d taken in with Hazel and Frank. They were good at soothing nightmares and keeping the young ones occupied. Maybe she should have them deal with the morning.

She pried the child off her arm and rolled her over to Hazel. The child latched onto Hazel who sleepily put an arm around her. Reyna smiled at them, before sitting up. She was used to being the one Jason talked to while he protected the pack, and then that cat-shifter showed up and Jason took his side stayed at his side, and suddenly Reyna had to protect their pack. Cat- shifters were loners, traitors, and couldn’t be trusted and would destroy their pack.

Jason couldn’t see that with the way he was entranced by the cat-shifter. Reyna could see the way he gently touched the other boy or held hands when he thought no one was looking. He took him on his morning runs, talked to him late into the night instead of Reyna.

            A single pair of stumbling steps coming into the cave and collapsing near the entrance. She rolled onto her feet and glanced at the entrance to see Jason slumped in the entrance, staring outside with a hurt confused look. His little cat-shifter nowhere to be found. She had to push away the hope that the cat-shifter was gone for good that was starting to spring up in her.

“Did he hurt you?” She asked gently, moving toward him. The pack seemed to have moved around Hazel and Frank. They would be great parents when they grew up. 

He didn’t glance at her until she was sitting at her and even then it was barely more than a glance. “He left. He thinks he can…. He thinks that Hybrids… that it’s possible they’re still themselves and we’re overlooking them.”

She snorted. “He’s crazy. Maybe it’s for the best that he’s left.”

Jason glared at her before pushing to his feet. “He could be right, Reyna. And even if he’s not… I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“So what? You’re going to go chase after him and get hurt in the process?” She asked sarcastically.

He paused. “You’re right. I want you to take over the pack while I’m gone. I’m going after him.”

It took a stunned moment, before Reyna could even process what was going on. She bolted up and ran after Jason with a cry: “You can’t be serious! I was being sarcastic. You can’t abandon us for some shifty cat-shifter. Jason?”

He was already gone by the time she was out there. She had been speaking to air. Her shoulders slumped. “You idiot.”

“Reyna?” Hazel asked from the entrance of their den, and Reyna turned to look at the thirteen year old wolf-shifter. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. Just go back inside and check on the young ones, okay?”

Hazel nodded and slipped back in, though Reyna could see the doubt in her eyes. Once Hazel was back inside, Reyna sighed and looked back at the woods. How could Jason leave them like this?

“It seems like pack leadership is just getting passed around. That’s just sad,” A vaguely familiar voice said with what sounded like laughter in their voice. Reyna jolted around, looking for the voice. The voice laughed. “Up.”

Reyna raised her eyes, ane perched in the tree right by their den, watching her with keen eyes sparkling with an amusement, was a vaguely familiar winged. Her wings were partially outstretch and one was partially wrapped around her. The winged raised an eyebrow at the speechless Reyna with a half smirk. “Hello, Reyna. Don’t tell me you don’t remember me.”

Reyna’s stomach plumented, and she swallowed unsure if that was happening. “Thalia?”


	7. Chapter 1 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke pov. Luke comes to Alabaster for healing after meeting with Kronos. Flashback of his meeting with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing their dynamics. Originally I started with the flashback, but I just wanted to skip to Alabaster and Ethan, so I moved it around.

Luke knocked on Alabaster’s door, stomach churning. He knew Ethan would be in the room and how they’d react. He wasn’t sure how he felt about what happened. Somewhere along the way his admiration and affection for Kronos had faded.

Ethan opened the door, took one look at him and scowled, before talking over his shoulder at his boyfriend. “Can I kill him now?”

Luke winced, though he was 90% sure Ethan wasn’t talking about him. He hadn’t seemed that upset when he accused him of setting him up with Alabaster, more numb than anything. Then again, he’d had more time to process it since then. Besides, Alabaster wouldn’t let Ethan hurt him.

The door opened wider, and Alabaster looked Luke over with a deep sadness in his eyes. Ethan stepped aside to let Luke in. Alabaster gently took his wrist and lead him to their bed. He sat on the bed with both Ethan and Alabaster hovering over him. Shame crept over him. He ducked his head and stared at the bed covers.

“How do you kill a titan?” Ethan asked, and something about the winged dark’s tone sent a comforting shiver down his spine.

“I don’t know.” Alabaster gently touched the bruise forming on Luke’s cheek. “Do you want to tell us what happened this time?”

Luke tensed, the memory flooding through his mind abruptly.

_ “What news do you have?” Kronos demanded the moment Luke enters his throne room. He had to fight the instinct to shrink away from a titan of the old days, to pretend to be small to keep him from being noticed. _

_ Kronos turned eyes piercing into him. Luke swallowed. “I have a new winged. He was a non-shifter.” _

_ Luke stopped as Kronos sat up with an interested look in his eye. Non-shifters were the primitive ancestors of all shifters and magic wielders. In the old days they worshipped the titans like Kronos. The throne room was a remnant from those days. And when the rising shifters stopped worshipping the titans, Kronos created the winged to serve him. It was something Kronos kept reminding him. Before Kronos had chosen to make him a winged, he’d been a shape-shifting heathen.  _

_ “A non-shifter. And you tainted him?” _

_ Luke tensed as Kronos backhanded him. “I’m sorry. I thought he might be part of the prophecy.” _

_ Kronos paused. “And is he?” _

_ “He hasn’t woken up yet, but he catches on fire,” Luke offered, his whole body shaking. _

_ Kronos stroked his hair, tilting his head up to look at him. “You’ve done good. Come, tell me more about this winged and what you’ve gathered.” He beckoned Luke toward the bedroom. _

Luke jerked at Alabaster’s gentle touch caressing his cheek. He forced a smile. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

“And yesterday was just a bad day,” Ethan gritted out. “It’s a problem.”

Luke looked sideways at him. “Why are you so protective?”

Ethan looked away. “Our leader shouldn’t be hiding bruises and broken bones and scrapes. You shouldn’t be worried that the next move you make might piss off some being that wants the whole world to worship him.” Luke full-bodily flinched at that. He didn’t know how powerful Kronos was. He was pretty much a god, even if he didn’t use the term. 

Alabaster’s hand smoothed down his back, while Ethan looked back at him with an unidentified look. “You’re not a bad person, Luke. You care about us, really care about us.”

“He could hurt all of you.”

Ethan sat beside him on the bed. “Then trust us to find a way to stop him and get you out.”

Luke stared at him. “I should be protecting you.”

“It’s not a bad thing to let others help you,” Alabaster told him, moving his arm around him in a half-hug. Ethan hesitantly put another arm around him until Luke was being gently hugged between them. And he started crying.


	8. Chapter 1 Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth is going to find Percy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have ideas on how to improve this, please let me know.

Annabeth ducked through the forest away from the gathering Hybrids. Grover had integrated himself easily with the other hybrids. A gentle hand startled her, and she spun around to see Michell looking at her warily on the verge of darting away. He was more skittish than she’d known Hybrids to be and the only one she felt comfortable talking to.

“Mitchell,” She sighed and pulled away from her escape route. “I was just getting a break from the others. You know how you Drew can get.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “You’ve barely even hung around any of the other Hybrids except for me and Grover, Annabeth.  I’ve tried to leave when I was changed, too. It doesn’t work out. They’ve all been taught that we’re monsters.”

“You don’t know Percy,” She snapped.

“He hasn’t come back for you,” Mitchell whispered, taking a step toward her with a concerned look.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Something could’ve happened to him. Or he could think you’ve killed us.”

An offended look crossed Mitchell’s face, and she immediately felt bad about it. He struggled more with all the negative thoughts about Hybrids. She reached out to him. “I didn’t mean you would.”

“I know, it’s just what they think. Good luck, finding your friend. I hope he’s as great and accepting him as you seem to think he is.” He turned and paused for a moment. “You don’t need to worry about me telling anyone. I’ll keep your secret. Even if Grover begs me to.”

A knife twisted in Annabeth heart at the sentence. Grover had tried to protect her when they’d first been captured, leaving like this was almost like betraying him. She took a deep breath as Mitchell wandered off. She would come back and bring Grover to Percy once it was safe, but right now he seemed so comfortable and happy with the other Hybrids that she didn’t dare drag him away.

She slipped through the brush a shimmery magic web breaking against her skin. Her skin prickled, and she glanced over her shoulder half afraid of alarms going off and the Hybrids running after her like they were going to war. It took a couple moments for her to realize how much that thought was influenced more by the stories she’d been told than experience; nobody even glanced at her.

She sighed in what should’ve been in relief but felt sadder than that. Onward then. She pushed her way through the thick young trees as the branches scratch her bare skin open. Shifting would mean being in hybrid form and being a target, but it would offer more protection from the savage branches.

After a moment of weighing the decision, she rolled in her in frustrated exasperation and shifted. The last thing she wanted was Percy to see her all scratched up and think the situation worse than it was. Branches broke against her as she gained a couple inches and her body painfully contorted to accompany the unnatural form. She let out a soft groan, and then the shift was over, leaving her a panting blonde vaguely cat like humanoid. She hated the feeling, but it did come with better senses.

After a moment to recover, she pushed through the branches, picking up speed. She burst through the other side. A new smell was on the air. She paused and in that moment. 

“Hey blondie.” A voice called her attention up to the trees. Standing on one of the branches with a grin was a darker skinned girl with a choppy braid and tawny wings half-stretched behind her. Annabeth tensed as the girl easily leapt from the branch and landed in front of her. “Has anyone ever told you how purr-fect you look?”

What in the world?


End file.
